Blog

Changelog

2024-01-06

• Added fill light information
• Added Zoom U-22
• Added Rhode mic adapter

Microphone, Camera, Headphones, ACTION!

Recently I actually had a need to put together a proper setup for remote work. Specifically I needed a web cam, microphone and decent headphones. Normally I’d just have used my HyperX Cloud Pro Gaming Headset. Unfortunately they have a strange problem where the microphone and headphone wires bleed signal so as I hear things the mic picks up the output and re-sends it as my own.

Why?

I spend a lot of time outdoors. I may be a geek/nerd but I like being outdoors and actually spend time outside. One thing that rarely stops me is the weather. Because of this I can end up outside in the rain or during a blizzard. This is a big reason I only buy archive grade and water resistant inks and papers.

I recently picked up a Monteverde USA Tool Pen Inkball (link). The pen is, uh.

One of the worst pens I’ve laid hands on

I cracked the box open, discovered there were no ink cartridges or adapters and… it didn’t get better once I ordered a converter and some standard international mini ink cartridges.

I wish they didn’t but the unfortunate truth is that tools do matter. It doesn’t matter what discipline we frame this up within. Tools Matter. QED, EOF, return 0.

I bring this up because a lovely human I know via the internet voiced their distaste for writing recently.

After talking to them for awhile it seemed like the tools they were using were less than the best for their needs and writing style. I sent them some links and they actually seemed excited for the prospect of reducing their distaste for writing.

The [work]book ‘American Cursive Handwriting’ by Michael Sull (Goodreads Link) is an interesting ‘read’. I picked up a copy years ago when I first started getting interested in writing. I was looking for ways to slow down, think and better remember things. After I entered the world of analog writing it quickly became clear it helped me on too many levels to properly enumerate here.

The biggest problem I had early on with analog writing was my legibility and writing speed. I could barely read my own scribbles and anyone else had about zero chance of reading my handwriting. Despite other gains I had with analog writing, these were major hurdles for me. I would definitely have thrown in the towel on analog writing if I hadn’t found ‘American Cursive Handwriting’ during my research into ways of improving legibility and speed.

It’s been awhile since I’ve posted about my soap preferences. My previous supplier went weird politically and seems to be forever out of stock on the soaps I use to get clean. I had to find an alternative.

Enter Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve (link). They really saved me when it comes to bar soap and have become my primary source of soap over the last ~9-12 months.

Currently I’m using the following products and I cannot complain. I highly recommend checking out their offerings, including the following

Riffing

a monolog or spoken improvisation, especially a humorous one, on a particular subject

or: break the rules and see if there is no spoon

Bullet Journals (BuJo)

The official Bullet Journal site (link) is a full, end to end system of organization. It’s been a huge hit in pen/paper circles for several years now. I read their documentation, tried “the system” and walked away with a bad taste in my mouth. I also was left in a bad spot organizationally.

The Humble Every Day Carry

When I first went back to a pen and paper I discovered I never wanted to be without. Rain, snow or shine: pens, pencils and paper will be there for you. Day of night, power, no power too. These simple tools will ‘just work’. I’ve had phones and digital organizers fail because of drained batteries, getting wet and getting too warm or cold. Analog beats digital for an every day carry every time.

Changelog

2024-12-06

Updated to link to the digital version of the notebook. Mild rewrite to improve post text.

Digital Version

This post is about the analog anti bad habit notebook. For a digital version implemented as an Obsidian vault, see this post.

The Post

Not going to lie : I have a few bad habits.

I’m trying to break them but lack a good ‘visual cue’ for how often I succumb and how bad/good I’m doing.

OK…

Lately I’ve been poking at updating and improving my usual offline mapping setup on Android. For the last few years or so I’ve been GPX tracking my outings, adventures and some other stuff. Mainly for photo geotagging but also because it can be neat to see where I was and when after a day trip.

When out and about I insist on purely offline maps too. I like being away from the modern world, notifications and distractions. So… my phone ends up in places without cell service or the SIM card removed.